About the Book
Available for the first time in English, the 1776 journal of Francois Baby, Gabriel Taschereau, and Jenkin Williams provides an insight into the failure to incite rebellion in Quebec by American revolutionaries. While other sources have shown how British soldiers and civilians and the French-Canadian gentry (the seigneurs) responded to the American invasion of 1775-1776, this journal focuses on French-Canadian peasants, les habitants, who made up the vast majority of the population; in other words, the journal helps explain why Quebec did not become the "fourteenth colony." After American forces were expelied from Quebec in early 1776, British governor Sir Guy Carleton sent three trusted envoys to discover who collaborated with the rebels from the south. They traveled to fifty-six parishes and missions in the Quebec and Trois Rivieres district, discharging disloyal militia officers, and replacing them with faithful subjects. They prepared a report on each parish, revealing actions taken to support the Americans or the king. Baby and his colleagues documented a wide range of responses.
Some habitants enlisted with the Americans; others supplied them with food, firewood, and transportation. Some habitants refused to co-operate with the king's soldiers. In some parishes, women were the Americans' most zealous supporters. Overall, the Baby Journal clearly reveals that the habitants played an important, but often overlooked, role in the American invasion.
Table of Contents:
ContentsList of Map and Illustrations 0Acknowledgments 0Preface to the Current Edition 00Preface to the 1927 Edition 00Introduction 00List of Abbreviations 00Baby JournalVieille Lorette, May 22 000Jeune Lorette, May 23 000Charlesbourg, May 24 000Beauport, May 25 000L'Ange Gardien, May 25 000Château Richer, May 26 000Ste Anne, May 26 000For St Féréol, May 26 000St Joachim, May 27 000Return to Château Richer, May 28 000Ile D'Orléans--Ste Famille, May 28 000Ile D'Orléans--St Francois, May 29 000Ile D'Orléans--St Jean, May 29 000Ile D'Orléans--St Laurent, May 30 000Ile D'Orléans--St Pierre, May 30 000Ste Foye, June 2 000St Augustin, June 3 000Pointe Aux Trembles, June 4 000Ecureuils, June 4 000Cap Santé, June 5 000Deschambault, June 6 000Les Grondines, June 6 000Ste Anne, June 7 000Batiscan, June 7 000Rivière Batiscan, Ste Geneviève, June 8 000Champlain, June 9 000Cap La Madelaine, June 9 000To Trois Rivières, June 9-14 000Bécancour, June 15 000Gentilly, June 15 000St Pierre des Becquets, June 16 000St Jean de L'Echaillon, June 16 000Lotbinière, June 17 000Ste Croix, June 18 000St Nicolas, June 19 000St Henry, June 24-25 000Nouvelle Beauce, Ste Marie, June 26-27 000Nouvelle Beauce, St Joseph, June 27 000St François Seigniory, June 27 000Pointe Lévy, July 5 000Beaumont, July 6 000St Charles, July 6 000St Michel, July 7 000St Vallier, July 8 000Berthier, July 8 000St François du Sud, July 9 000St Pierre du Sud, July 10 000St Thomas, July 11 000Cape St Ignace, July 11 000L'Islet, July 12 000St Jean Port Joli, July 12 000St Roch, July 13 000Ste Anne, July 13 000Rivière Ouelle, July 14 000Kamouraska, July 15 000Rivière des Caps to Rimousky, July 15 000Kamouraska, July 16 000St Michel, July 18 000Appendix. Itinerary of the Baby Journal 000Bibliography 000Index 000List of Map and Illustrations for the Baby Journal1) Map of Parishes Visited by Baby, Taschereau, and Williams 002) Sir Guy Carleton 0003) Richard Montgomery 0004) Benedict Arnold 0005) François Baby 0006) Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau 0007) Photograph of the Baby, Taschereau, and Williams Journal 0008) Jeune Lorette 0009) Falls of the Montmorency 00010) Jean-Olivier Briand 00011) Falls of the Chaudière 00012) Cape Diamond 00013) British Troops in Canadian Winter Dress 00014) American Soldier in Canada 00015) French-Canadian Habitant in Winter Dress 000
About the Author :
Michael P. Gabriel is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. S. Pascale Dewey is Associate Professor of Modern Language Studies at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Council for Quebec Studies (ACQS) and the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) and has published widely on French Canada.
Review :
"Most historians assume that Canadians failed to support the American invasion of Canada in 1775. Through his superb introduction and editing of this largely unknown collection of reports by French Canadian seigneurs and priests, Michael Gabriel shows that only extensive controls and (relatively mild) punishments implemented by Governor Sir Guy Carleton and the French Canadian elite were able to prevent the Americans from receiving a good deal of support that was actually there. Gabriel's work makes the American invasion seem less foolish, more a plausible effort to liberate a sympathetic people than a blatant conquest, than it ever has in the historical literature. It also adds to the reputation of Carleton, one of the few competent generals the British possessed during the war."
